The hilarious French superhero parody film Smoking Causes Coughing is getting a US release, and the new trailer is here!
In spite of the wealth of Marvel and other superhero movies on the way, there is a real absence of truly absurdist superhero comedies. Enter the French-made Smoking Causes Coughing, which premiered at Cannes last year and had a wider French release in November. The wacky flick gets its US release in theaters and digitally on March 31, and you can watch the preview below.
As you can tell by the trailer, Smoking Causes Coughing doesn’t just poke fun at superheroes in general but a very specific corner of the genre — Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The French heroes are older, a lot bloodier, and — as the title suggest — seem to smoke a lot more than your average costumed crimefighter.
Directed by Quentin Dupieux, who Variety calls “the current absurdist-in-chief of French auteur cinema” in their review of Smoking Causes Coughing, the film finds the strangely named Tobacco Force sent on a retreat after a battle with a monster ends with their powers and battlefield chemistry suffering. The Tobacco Force’s powers literally inflict cancer upon their monstrous enemies, and they have as their mentor/leader a messed-up looking rat puppet named Chef Didier voiced by Alain Chabat who seems to have a lot of luck with the ladies.
According to Variety’s review, while Smoking Causes Coughing follows the same group of heroes, it’s an anthology film that acts more as a group of comedy skits than a single unified narrative.
By virtue of being a superhero parody made outside the U.S., not to mention the ridiculous brand of humor presented in the Smoking Causes Cancer trailer, it’s difficult not to be reminded of the Australian made parody, initially released on YouTube in 2007, Italian Spiderman (no that isn’t a typo, the hyphen is left out of the title). The hilarious spoof starred David Ashby as a chubby, domino-masked, hard-drinking, motorcycle-riding version of Spider-Man. Just like the Tobacco Force, Italian Spiderman smokes like a chimney.
Can we expect a Smoking Causes Coughing expanded universe with other films like Italian Spiderman crossing over with them? Probably not, but regardless the movie looks like a fun time. At 77 minutes, it’s also a lot shorter than your average superhero blockbuster. You might even be able to buy a drink and not worry about needing to leave the theater.
Smoking Causes Coughing has its theatrical and digital release in the United States on Friday, March 31. Unfortunately it will face some stiff competition as it’s also the release date for the long-awaited Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. No cancer blasts are going to help them unseat Chris Pine‘s D&D debut.
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